1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to baby shoes. More particularly, the present invention relates to an expandable and adjustable foot covering for babies that may be worn easily and comfortably allowing for healthy foot development. This expandable shoe and/or bootie allows for a customized fit during a baby's first two years. The concept of this unique idea allows the shoe the ability to “grow” and/or “expand” with the growth of the foot from 0-24 months.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following 17 patents are relevant to the field of the present invention.
1. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 80,809 issued to Karl Schaffner on Mar. 25, 1930 for “Baby's Shoe” (hereafter the “Schaffner Design Patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,603,889 issued to Evelyn K. Lahnstein and Joseph Albert Lahnstein on Jul. 22, 1952 for “Shoe” (hereafter the “Lahnstein Patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,241 issued to Rowena N. Rigsby on Oct. 16, 1962 for “Expandible Shoe” (hereafter the“'241 Rigsby Patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,086 issued to Rowena N. Rigsby on Oct. 9, 1962 for “Expandible Shoe” (hereafter the “'086 Rigsby Patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,911 issued to Harry F. Waters on Aug. 4, 1964 for “Adjustable Child's Shoe” (hereafter the “Waters Patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,235 issued to George R. Cary, Jr. on Nov. 9, 1971 for “Adjustable Footwear” (hereafter the “Cary Patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,163 issued to Louis W. Simister on Jul. 10, 1973 for “Baby Expansion-Slipper” (hereafter the “Simister Patent”);
8. U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,075 issued to Dorothy G. Munschy on Oct. 2, 1973 for “Disposable Shoe” (hereafter the “Munschy Patent”);
9. U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 272,962 issued to Richard N. Clarvit on Mar. 13, 1984 for “Baby Shoe” (hereafter the “Clarvit Patent”);
10. U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,811 issued to Jean L. Rousseau on Jul. 15, 1986 for “Easy To Put On Wrap-Around Shoe Which Is Adaptable To The Shape Of the Foot” (hereafter the “Rousseau Patent”);
11. U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,523 issued to Ji-Tyan Lin on Nov. 5, 1996 for “Adjustable Child Shoes” (hereafter the “'523 Lin Patent”);
12. U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,980 issued to Ji-Tyan Lin on Aug. 26, 1997 for “Adjustable Shoe” (hereafter the “Lin Patent”);
13. U.S. Design Pat. No. D438,972 issued to H. Darnell Darby and assigned to Darco International, Inc. on Mar. 13, 2001 for “Surgical Shoe” (hereafter the “Darby Design Patent”);
14. U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,734 issued to Chan-Chou Ou on May 28, 2002 for “Adjustable And Disposable Foot Care Article” (hereafter the “Ou Patent”);
15. U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,442 issued to Patricia Lewis et al. and assigned to Morning Pride Manufacturing, L.L.C. on Dec. 21, 2004 for “Adjustable Sizable And Protective Boot” (hereafter the “Lewis Patent”);
16. U.S. Pat. No. 7,287,294 issued to Harry Miller et al. and assigned to Harry Miller Co., Inc. on Oct. 30, 2007 for “Method of Making An Expandable Shoe” (hereafter the “Miller Patent”);
17. European Patent Application No. EP 1,616,495 issued to Aprica Kassai on Jan. 18, 2006 for “Shoe” (hereafter the “Kassai European Patent Application”).
The Schaffner Patent is a design patent which discloses the concept of having strap members along the back with a flexible band member at the end of the side strap.
The Lahnstein Patent discloses the broad concept of having a shoe wherein the length and width of the shoe may be adjusted as a child's foot grows so that the shoe at no time will bind or otherwise be uncomfortable for the child. The width of the shoe can be adjusted by having mating members 14 and 13 on one side of the shoe fixed respectively to different locations on mating members 16 or 17 so that the tightness of the shoe can be contracted for a smaller foot and expanded for a larger foot. Also, the front of the shoe 12 can be mated with member 14. The length of the shoe can also be adjusted by having mating member 12 where the length can be adjusted.
The '241 Rigsby Patent embodies within it the concept of having a baby shoe that is adapted to be enlarged to compensate for the growth of an infant's foot. The shoe essentially consists of a front section 46 with a multiplicity of different eyelets so that as the shoe lace is expanded through the eyelets, the length of the shoe can either be increased or decreased depending upon which series of eyelets are engaged with the shoelace.
In the '086 Rigsby Patent the length is adjusted by having different eyelets so that a shoelace can be threaded through different eyelets to increase or decrease the length of the shoe.
The Waters Patent embodies the concept of having an adjustable child's shoe so that the size of the shoe can be increased as the child grows. The adjustment is made on the rear by having an interlocking weaving pattern of a shoelace with a pleated member as best shown in FIG. 3 so that the width of the back can be adjusted to be smaller or larger.
The Cary Patent is for adjustable footwear and is intended as an adult orthopedic shoe wherein the shoe has a toe covering which includes sections that are laterally adjustable and easily fixed in any given position of adjustment. The toe covering is split along a midline of the shoe to form two lateral sections that can be adjusted towards and away from the shoe midline and tongue like element is secured to the forward portion of the shoe to overlap the two lateral covering sections and to maintain the sections in the desired adjusted position. Therefore, infinite adjustment is available through the use of the mating velcro sections. The idea however is to adjust the front width of the shoe to accommodate a specific width of a person so that the shoe can be wider or narrower with the velcro members 34 being spaced further apart or closer together and then joined by the mating velcro member 36.
The Simister Patent is a baby expansion slipper wherein the length of the shoe can be adjusted by having a mating snap member 6′ either go to snap member 6d or 6b′ and the length is thereby adjusted depending upon which snap member-is engaged.
The Munschy Patent discloses a disposable shoe where there are various fold lines as best illustrated in FIG. 3 so that the overall length of the shoe can be adjusted and then closure members on the left or right to mateably close the back end of the shoe with a velcro fastener. The invention is intended as a disposable shoe wherein the length of the shoe can be adjusted by folding over the specific length at the rear of the shoe and then closing behind it.
The Clarvit Patent is a design patent application for a baby shoe. Essentially the width of the shoe can be adjusted by having mating Velcro® fasteners as three members as indicated in the figures so that the overall width of the front of the shoe can be adjusted depending upon how tightly the Velcro® strap members are engaged.
The Rousseau Patent has a detailed disclosure of how to adjust the sides of a shoe. Specifically, the invention discloses the concept of having an adjustable shoe where the rear width of the shoe and the length and width of the shoe can be adjusted by various mating velcro members on different portions of the shoe.
The '523 Lin Patent discloses an adjustable child's shoe which discloses a plurality of different fastening members on the toe and the heel to adjust the length of the shoe.
The '980 Lin Patent is an adjustable shoe which contains additional features such as having the rear adjusted as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 1 to have different widths depending upon the engagement of snap members on the rear.
The Darby Patent is a design patent which protects the shape of the product. This patent is for a surgical shoe wherein there is a flap on the top of the shoe that adjusts the overall width of the front portion of the shoe and a band and strap that adjusts how tight the top of the shoe is over the person's upper foot area.
The Ou Patent discloses an adjustable and disposable foot care article with an adjustable rear fastening member as best show in FIG. 3 so that the rear width of the shoe can be adjusted depending upon the width of the person's ankle. There are also a multiplicity of side adjustment members as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6 wherein the overall width of the shoe can be adjusted.
The Lewis Patent is an adjustable sizable protective boot. The overall length of the shoe can be adjusted by the front flap 18 and its mating velcro member being affixed along any location along the mating velcro members 30 along the front portion of the shoe. In addition, there is a band so that the overall width of the shoe at the location around the base of the foot as well as the upper portion of the foot can be adjusted in terms of width.
The Miller Patent discloses a method of making an expandable shoe which involves:                “A method of making an expandable shoe is disclosed. An intermediate footwear structure is provided having an expandable upper portion. A stabilizing material is provided to the intermediate structure to resist expansion of the upper portion, and a last is inserted into the intermediate structure. A subsequent manufacturing operation is performed to the intermediate structure, and the stabilizing material is acted upon to permit longitudinal movement of the upper portion. The size of the last is selected from among the sizes within the intended range of shoe sizes for the expandable shoe, depending on the characteristics of the upper portion of the shoe, and the desired shoe size range.”        The European Patent Application which was published in 2006 discloses: “A shoe 10 which comprises a sole 11 and an upper positioned above the sole and having a height so as to cover up to an ankle. The upper comprises a lower upper 12 including a tongue for covering an instep, right and left side parts 14a, 14b having a height so as to cover an anklebone and gradually reduced in height backward, and a rear part 17 which connects the right and left side of parts 14a, 14b, and a higher upper 20 having a height so as to cover the ankle from a position in which an upper region of the lower upper is overlapped, one end connected to the right side part 14a of the lower upper 12, a middle region partially and sequentially overlapping with the right side part 14a, the rear part 17 and the left side part 14b of the lower upper 12, and a fixing part 27 connected to the left side part 14b and detachably connected to a hook and loop fastener 34 of the higher upper 20.”        